Tips for Dealing with Arthritis at Home

Living with arthritis is something I do, as do millions of other suffers around the nation, on any given day. Through the years of doing housework, I have come up with some ways to make everyday household tasks easier for me to accomplish. Perhaps these tips can help you as well.

Kitchen help with arthritis

If you have arthritis in your hands as I do, then you know how much the hot water soothes your hands. Take your time doing dishes, the longer your hands are in the warm water the better.

Scrubbing dishes, does more harm pain wise so put those dishes to soak in good hot water and come back later and finish them. Even letting those baked on food dishes over night is a good thing, as the hot water first thing in the morning will take away the pain and stiffness associated with waking up.

Opening cans can be a struggle so either invest in an electric can opener or get a manual one with large handles. Large handled can openers will help to ease the pain associated with opening cans around the home.

Opening jars can be a horrible pain filled activity for those of us with any form of arthritis, so take a butter knife, and hit it around the rim of the lid in quick little smacks to loosen the seal. Make the little knife hits around the perimeter of the jar, and opening the jar will be much easier. You could simple pass off the task to someone else.

Actually having all your serving and cooking utensils with bigger handles allows you to have an easier grip. With not having to squeeze your hands too tight on utensils, you can be more pain free from arthritis.

Use plastic dishes, as they are lightweight and easier to hold then glass for those of us afflicted with any form of arthritis. The more weight we pick up with our hands the more they will hurt, so the trick is to make what we pick up as light as possible.

Grocery shopping with arthritis

Grocery shopping can be a major problem for those of us with any form of arthritis but there are ways we can minimize the pain here as well. Take someone with you to help pick up the heavier things, let them bend and reach for items.